Auto insurance for women has been all over the Internet and TV lately. There is a new group of insurance companies, like Sheila's Wheels and Cover Girl, that only sell car insurance to women. They say that it costs less to insure women drivers, so they promise lower premiums for women drivers. People say that women are better drivers, so they pose less risk. They get into fewer accidents and are caught driving less often. When they do get into an accident, the repairs are usually less expensive. So, is it true, or is it just a way to sell something?
Yes and no are both right answers to the question. Insurance companies for women only are marketing to a specific group of people: women drivers. Yes, it's a marketing trick, but like the best ones, it's based on the truth. Here are the facts about insurance and women drivers:
-Men get convicted of driving 92 percent of the time.
But these numbers are changing because women are becoming more aggressive drivers. According to data collected by confused.com, 16.8 percent of male drivers have convictions on their driving record, while only 9.8 percent of female drivers do. Only three years ago, only 4.8% of women drivers were in this group.
-Men and women drive in different ways.
Last year, a whopping 98 percent of dangerous driving convictions were given to men. All the research shows that men tend to be more aggressive and competitive behind the wheel than women, which makes sense because that makes them more likely to get into accidents. Most of the time, women drive slower than men, staying within the speed limits, and they don't drive as far. All of these things add up to less women being hurt in accidents. (That's the end of all those jokes about how bad women drivers are. The numbers show that this is not true.)
-When women buy insurance, the insurance company pays out less in damages.
When women do get into accidents, they usually just have minor scrapes. Overall, insurance companies have known for a long time that paying out claims on female drivers costs them less.
But that doesn't mean that companies that only insure women will have the lowest premiums. In fact, many of them give quotes that are higher than what you'd get from a more general auto insurance company. Even though many people think that women drivers pay more for insurance because men are more expensive, the truth is that most insurance companies offer lower insurance rates to women drivers as a normal part of doing business.
That doesn't mean you won't get the best price from a company that only covers cars owned by women. In the end, the decision is the same as any other auto insurance decision. Compare prices. Before you choose the best insurance policy for you, get quotes from several different companies. When comparing policies, keep in mind that you should always compare policies that are the same. Before you start getting quotes, decide what kind of coverage you want, and make sure that the rate you're given includes all the coverage you need. It's the only way you can be sure you're getting the best coverage for your money.
